We stayed at the Wasdale Head Inn in the midst of the fells. We highly recommend it! Great room, traditional breakfasts, many paths right out the door, hot baths and a drying room when you return, and a brewery for the evening.

We had a misty first day hiking up Great Gable. In fact, many of our 5 days in the Lake District were misty and foggy. It sure felt good compared to the hot and dry California summer.

The next day we walked over a quaint little bridge that was built in the 1700s!

We hiked into a horseshoe valley called Mosedale, which reminded me immensely of Hatcher Pass in Alaska!

Up a very steep gully to the ridge and then followed a trail up to Pillar. Yup, it was foggy at the top.

We took a more civilized descent trail and had great views on the way down, once we got below the clouds.

Our third day was hot! Poor Jon got quite a sunburn because we didn't pack any sunscreen for England! We could actually see Great Gable, visible behind Jon.

We decided to climb something while we had our chance on dry rock. Here is Jon leading up Napes Needle.

Scafell, Scafell Pike, and Lingmell were on our list for our fourth day in the Lake District. It was another misty day. I love how green it was, though. This picture is taken when we are heading up to a pass, which is the lowest part of the ridge shown.

Then we clambered up a waterfall! It was actually easier than it looked at first glance.

Here we are at the top of Scafell Pike- the tallest mountain in England!

We bagged Lingmell on our way down from Scafell Pike. Then we took a different way down to the Inn that wound along the edge of a gorge and had us scrambling over rocks.

Our last day in the Lake District was ambitiously planned over pints of Yewbarrow Ale. We planned to hike the entire horseshoe ridge that we sampled on Day 2. We began with a lovely hike up Kirkfell.

Following Kirkfell, we rebagged Pillar and then continue to Red Pike. We made excellent time, and were heading down the saddle between Red Pike and Yewbarrow, when a thunder and lightning storm started moving quickly across the valley! By the time we reached the saddle, we didn't have choice- we had to retreat.

Too bad, too. Yewbarrow is a lovely peak, and a very tasty beer. I also admired the many rock walls.

After our wonderful hikefest, we returned to London. Did I mention we rented a car and drove on the left side of the road?! That was an adventure in itself!

We ended our vacation with a huge and flashy Iron Maiden concert. It was very cool.

P.S. There were many sheep.